Tag: Renaissance

On a Painting Contract

There are usually two camps when it comes to paying for contract work. Some people argue that it’s always better to pay the contractor up front, but others contend that the work should be completed before payment is tendered. Then, there’s a growing third group, and this bunch sets benchmarks for work completed with payment to be given as the benchmarks are met and the work approved. I like this one the best, because it seems like a win-win with neither side in a position to take advantage of the other.

This last benchmark-type contract was the arrangement Julio made to have some painting done. He hired a man named Mike for the job. Mike and his crew came highly recommended. As Mike completed different tasks for Julio, the work was to be inspected and payment made before Mike would begin the next bit of painting. But there’s something that you should know about both Julio and Mike–each man had a terrible temper. Julio was known to berate people who worked for him. He was obscene and showed off his vast vocabulary of curse words daily, sometimes rattling off a litany of vulgarities simply to see how others would react. For a man with quite a lot of money, he had a lower-class sense of humor and coarseness about him. In addition, he was unfaithful in his sexual relationships, fathering children by several different women. Now, on the surface, this has nothing to do with paying a contractor what you owe him, but it gives you an idea of the kind of man Julio was before we get to his business agreement with Mike.

And Mike, for his part, was no prize, either. His temper was shown not to underlings or workers like Julio’s was, but, rather, for people he worked for who stiffed him on payment. He was known to threaten violence against anyone who didn’t pay him the money he knew was owed him for his work. Some rumors were out that that Mike had killed a man at one time for non-payment. No, for his own workers, Mike was generous to a fault, often paying them out of his own pocked when the people he worked for didn’t meet their promised obligations. Add to this the fact that Mike wanted the job done right. He was often late on his work because he was known for starting over. Call it OCD or whatever you wish, but the man was a perfectionist. Julio wanted the job done right, but he wanted the job done. He didn’t want to wait for Mike’s perfectionist streak to repaint and repaint and repaint.

And, so, when Mike and Julio agreed to a large benchmark painting job, you knew fireworks were bound to happen somewhere along the way.

The first benchmark was met, and Mike was paid. The second one, was met and Mike was paid. The third one was…late. Mike was repainting, and Julio yelled at him that this was a breach of the contract, that the benchmark having not been met meant that the deal was off. But Julio was pleased with what Mike and his crew had done. So, he promised to pay Mike, but still he withheld payment. So, Mike and his bunch took their buckets and brushes and ladders and left the job unfinished. Julio, realizing that he wasn’t going to find a better man than Mike to do this job, finally acquiesced and convinced the man to return to the work. And there were other hiccups along the way.

In all, it took Mike from May to September to finish the $600,000 paint job–September five years later.

But you have to admit, the painting of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo for Pope Julius II was worth the time and trouble.

On a Lucky Architect

Domenico Fontana probably doesn’t register in your mind as a notable architect, but he was the cat’s meow in the late 16th/early 17th Centuries in Rome and throughout Renaissance Italy. You’ve seen his work without knowing that it was his. Have you ever seen a photo or video of the plaza in front of St. Peter’s in Vatican City? Then you’ve probably noticed the obelisk that is in the center of that square. That was Fontana’s work. When you think about it, to have something you did in the exact center of a square designed by Bernini and in front of a church that was the work of Michelangelo, Bramante, Raphael, and others puts Fontana in their league even if he’s not as well known as they are.

Cardinal Montalto became his patron shortly after he arrived in Rome. After growing up in what is now northern Italy near the Swiss border, Fontana received his training in building and discovered he had a good sense of proportionality and an easy understanding of engineering principles. He arrived in the capital of Christendom with more talent than most, and, after some successful commissions for Cardinal Montalto, his career was set.

As luck would have it, Montalto went on to become Pope Sixtus V, and he appointed his favorite architect as the new official architect of Vatican City. Fontana would add some features to St. Peter’s Basilica and some substantial changes to St. John’s Lateran church (the church the Pope is the priest of, actually). He even designed the ceiling of the Sistine Library. Yes, Domenico Fontana was at the height of his fame and power and wealth.

But, Pope Sixtus died suddenly, and Pope Clement VIII became the head of the Church. For a time, Clement allowed Fontana to continue in his post, but then the architect fell out of favor with the new Pope. He was forced to leave Rome, and he settled in Naples. A local nobleman asked the now-disgraced but former famous architect to be in charge of the design and construction of a series of canals to and around his property on the outskirts of the city. While the commission was several steps below what he had been used to back in Rome, Fontana accepted the appointment and began work. And then, luck struck him again.

You see, it was while overseeing the work on the Neapolitan count’s canals that Fontana’s workmen, digging the channels for the water to flow, that their spades hit several series of walls and buildings. Fontana ordered some of the walls to be excavated, and, as the walls were uncovered, the workers discovered paintings of incredible beauty and clarity, as if they had been painted only recently.

You see, as luck would have it, Fontana had discovered the site of the ancient city of Pompeii.